In conventional directory systems, one way of representing computer-readable data is in a hierarchical tree-like structure of a directory-based system, commonly referred to as a Directory Information Tree (DIT). Some directory-based systems are limited for a variety of reasons. For example, objects of some conventional directories may be organized in a rigid hierarchy that uses a fixed relationship structure. Some directories may include information that is distributed across multiple servers, which in some cases may complicate searching for particular items of information. Therefore, objects that have complex inter-relationships are not typically stored in directory-based systems.
Another limitation of conventional directory-based systems is that an effective information search in the directory environment typically involves an understanding of the system architecture, especially if data is scattered between multiple directories or servers. In some cases, directory applications may need to do a large amount of work in order to resolve complex interrelationships between objects of a directory-based system. These example limitations and others may inhibit the searching capabilities of some directory-based systems.